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An effort to win over all of those hockey haters

May 15, 2009 | 6:54
pm

Being a hockey fan in Southern California can be rough.

When friends and co-workers find out that hockey's your favorite sport, they usually scrunch up their face and look at you like you haven't showered in days. Then, they always ask the same question -- why?

I understand our love of hockey doesn't make a lot of geographical or cultural sense. It's a 19th century import from Canada, a sport that lacks the charms baseball, football and basketball have incubated in most Americans' lives since they were children. It's a sport that needs to be discovered and, sadly, most Americans will never experience their hockey awakening.

So, for all of those who can't understand why there are small, but fierce bands of hockey loyalists in Southern California, you need to read this column in Time magazine by Joel Stein. Yes, that Joel Stein -- the same guy who doubles as a columnist at this paper.

Typically, I'm not a big fan of Stein's. Rarely do I agree with the points he makes in his columns, and I'm convinced the VH1 shows he's provided commentary for will be blamed for causing the downfall of human civilization someday.

Despite this, Stein does his peculiar best to win over potential hockey fans. And, if you're not convinced by his arguments, you have the power to prevent him from ever writing a hockey column in Time again (so far, though, most people are on his side).